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$100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

xprize.org

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Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#171

Post by lucb1e »

sekai wrote: post #164
abeppu wrote: post #96

This sounds cool from a tech-nerd perspective, but of course it all is pretty futile if we don't get emissions under control. The video says 10 gigatons/yr by 2050. Our 2019 emissions were ~36 gigatons. I.e. even if capture is successful, it needs to be accompanied by aggressive emissions reductions for us to even get to neutral, let alone reversing damage. I'm guessing Musk had some thought process around the expect…

And it's futile if we don't start removing C02 from the atmosphere. I'd rather bet on C02 removal than anything else.

(Side note: it's CO2, carbon+(oxide×2), not C zero two)

It's not futile if we don't remove atmospheric CO2, but we would have to get to net zero warming without cheating and we would have to get there within our emission budget to stay below .

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#172

Post by [deleted] »

kisamoto wrote: post #168
tito wrote: post #162

I'm curious what people here think about their own role in a prize like this. Are you interested in joining a team? Starting a company? Working on gigaton scale carbon removal? I've been working on carbon removal for the past few years, eager to help anyone who is considering actually making a leap into this industry for their own curiosity or even career. That said there are plenty of other massive juicy challenges…

I choose to help people support a portfolio of carbon removal at https://carbonremoved.com If you're working on carbon removal or want to support carbon removal please feel free to email me directly: ewan (at) above website

[deleted]

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#173

Post by tito »

kisamoto wrote: post #168
tito wrote: post #162

I'm curious what people here think about their own role in a prize like this. Are you interested in joining a team? Starting a company? Working on gigaton scale carbon removal? I've been working on carbon removal for the past few years, eager to help anyone who is considering actually making a leap into this industry for their own curiosity or even career. That said there are plenty of other massive juicy challenges…

I choose to help people support a portfolio of carbon removal at https://carbonremoved.com If you're working on carbon removal or want to support carbon removal please feel free to email me directly: ewan (at) above website

Nice work! Are you already on AirMiners? If not, you would fit right in. You're on it with all the replies the thread today...I'm replying opportunistically while sitting by a pool :D

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#174

Post by kisamoto »

vkou wrote: post #129
kisamoto wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is no silver bullet. It has to be a combination of: 1) Reduce emissions to zero (will take some time). 2) Use more natural solutions (trees, algae, kelp etc. - will also take time). 3) Enhance natural solutions with tech (enhanced weathering). 4) Develop carbon capture tech to reverse the damage done by the fossil-fuel burning tech.

> 1) Reduce emissions to zero (will take some time). How many centuries is it going to take to reduce global emissions to... Half of their current levels?

Hopefully one century or less?

But this depends on global willingness to do so by choosing (more expensive) sustainable products and voting for politicians who want to enforce/encourage carbon reductions

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#175

Post by lucb1e »

flavius29663 wrote: post #163
abeppu wrote: post #96

This sounds cool from a tech-nerd perspective, but of course it all is pretty futile if we don't get emissions under control. The video says 10 gigatons/yr by 2050. Our 2019 emissions were ~36 gigatons. I.e. even if capture is successful, it needs to be accompanied by aggressive emissions reductions for us to even get to neutral, let alone reversing damage. I'm guessing Musk had some thought process around the expect…

> Our 2019 emissions were ~36 gigatons The plants absorb about 25% of that and the oceans another 25%. If we absorb 10 gigatons yearly by 2050, that might be good enough.

Wait, 36 originally × .75 from plants × .75 from oceans - 10 captured = 20¼ Gt. I think you're off by about 10 Gt?

And that's assuming the ocean and plants will infinitely capture more and more carbon, which I sincerely doubt as well, but I'll go ahead and assume you mean this as a bridging method to get us another decade or two to finalize real solutions.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#176

Post by kisamoto »

lutorm wrote: post #121
abeppu wrote: post #96

This sounds cool from a tech-nerd perspective, but of course it all is pretty futile if we don't get emissions under control. The video says 10 gigatons/yr by 2050. Our 2019 emissions were ~36 gigatons. I.e. even if capture is successful, it needs to be accompanied by aggressive emissions reductions for us to even get to neutral, let alone reversing damage. I'm guessing Musk had some thought process around the expect…

I think at this point emissions reductions is a matter of will, not technology. Rather than waiting for some technological magic bullet when it comes to emissions reductions, we need to take aggressive action. But we're going to need CCS technologies to start pulling the carbon back out if we want to avoid really bad outcomes, and those technologies are much less developed.

Underrated comment.

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#177

Post by kisamoto »

tito wrote: post #173
kisamoto wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I choose to help people support a portfolio of carbon removal at https://carbonremoved.com If you're working on carbon removal or want to support carbon removal please feel free to email me directly: ewan (at) above website

Nice work! Are you already on AirMiners? If not, you would fit right in. You're on it with all the replies the thread today...I'm replying opportunistically while sitting by a pool :D

Lucky for some!

We're not on AirMiners - will check it out tomorrow. Have to sign off shortly unfortunately but will check back tomorrow for replies.

Enjoy that pool!

Re: $100M xPrize for Carbon Removal

#178

Post by tito »

paulcarroty wrote: post #167
tito wrote: post #162

I'm curious what people here think about their own role in a prize like this. Are you interested in joining a team? Starting a company? Working on gigaton scale carbon removal? I've been working on carbon removal for the past few years, eager to help anyone who is considering actually making a leap into this industry for their own curiosity or even career. That said there are plenty of other massive juicy challenges…

> I've been working on carbon removal for the past few years Great, guess you should tell more about your experience.

I've got a talk up here about my experience: https://www.ted.com/talks/tito_jankowski_take_carbon_out_of_...
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